Warriors of Destiny
by NUMA-WAFFLE
Summary: A change in time has caused heros to be chosen from different time zones to ally together and save the past, present and future from an unknown threat. Yet the heros were all taken from points in time where they were greatly needed.
1. Chapter 1

Welomce to my first attempt at a Final Fantasy story. I hope you will enjoy it.

Any suggestions and feedback is welcome.

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Warriors of Destiny  
Chapter 1 Time

Time. To most, Time seems to be an endless line, a line that carries on for eternity. Most think that time will never loop, cross, spiral or do anything but be a straight, continuous line. Most people are foolish and believe whatever others, with more authority, will tell them.

A few people in the world know the real passage of Time, and now, so will you.  
Time spirals around itself, and when times are close enough and things are calamitous enough, those seen by lesser creatures as demigods can bring people out of their time and into another. Only a few can survive the transfer as the true knowledge of Time and existence can crush one's mind.

The Demigods have changed their names throughout time, yet are always protecting the inhabitants of the world. The magical deities exist in a part of the universe that is in between the spiraling of time, an area where there is no time, yet all time is in a single point. Although the beings reside in a point with both infinite and naught time they are limited to influence the most current time that they are inhabiting. The beings had been called Espers, Summons, GFs and Aeons to name a few.

At one point in Time's spiraling existence, a sorceress named Ultimecia took control of a sorceress in the past and caused a time compression. This disrupted the natural order; the exact moment of the compression was having effects on the different arcs in time. Only beings of greater Time Magic will know that there are no such things as rips or cracks in time that lead to different time zones. Time basically starts to jump around. You could be celebrating your 21st Birthday, suddenly you could be at your own wedding and then at the school play you did when you were 7.

Ultimecias' true plan was to gain the power of several sorceresses and become a _Greater Being_. A Greater Being was an individual that could link their mind to that of the planets, once that happened they had complete control of the planet. These beings had other names, but the most common was Gaeans. Some were born as planets, others were mortals that were chosen by their planet or some had acquired a great power.

Ultimecia was going to control the planet, sent it far into another galaxy, where she could gain more power and eventually control an armada of galaxies.

A blond haired man by the name of Cloud ran towards the kneeling figure of his love, Aeris. She was busy summoning Holy; in order to prevent the inevitable calamity of Meteor's impact. Cloud reached the small pedestal that she was on, a second later, Sephiroth, fell from the sky and stabbed the praying Ancient, ending her life.

Sephiroth looked up. He deeply desired to see the look on Clouds face, but there was no-one to be seen. Quickly he used a Phoenix Down on Aeris and brought her back to life. So that he could kill her again in front of his rival. He then explained what he was trying to do, and why he had to kill her. After that there was an awkward silence as Aeris glared hatefully at Sephiroth. She then broke the silence as she asked an important question.  
"Why are you doing this, what happened to the hero that you used to be?"  
"I found out the truth behind my existence, and, well I guess it made me go insane."  
"Well that's not a fair reason to destroy the world, kill thousands, hurt innocents or destroy families."  
"I guess you are right, but Jenova wishes it, and I must do it. You should always listen to your mother."  
"But she is not your true mother."

Awkward silence

"Well you do have a point, and well I think that you may have talked me out of killing everyone… wait I hear someone, it might be Cloud, quick, go back to praying."

Aeris knelt down and started to pray to the planet again. She heard the footsteps of the rest of her companions; she counted slowly, opened her eyes, and rolled to the side. The Masamune sent sparks flying as it hit the ground where the last Ancient was a few seconds ago. Aeris spun up on the spot, and used a new limit: BITCH SLAP! Sephiroth was knocked unconscious and sent flying into the Northern Crater. Turning to her shocked companions she asked, "Where's Cloud and Yuffie?" everyone else just looked around with a shocked realization that both Cloud and Yuffie were missing.

Squall and Selphie were busy in a training session inside the Ragnarok; the airship was busy flying through Ultimacias' time, its occupants were busy training for the final showdown. Everyone decided that they would go full out against each other, and train against everyone, one on one and in groups.

Squall and Selphie had been training for a few hours, they had done everything from weapons to magic, now they were going to fight summons. Squall was the strongest, in terms of attack, but Irvine and Zell were faster, Rinoa and Quistis were stronger in forms of magic, and Selphie was a balance of styles.

Everyone had also been practicing their limits, and all knew that Squall was strongest, and with lots of luck, Selphie came second with The End. The rest were all powerful enough to easily defeat most monsters by themselves.

Squall tried to summon Ifrit, but he could not feel the GFs presence. Selphie then tried to summon Leviathan; he would not come.

"What do you think is wrong, I can feel him with me, but I can't summon him, and he is not replying to me, wait … he un-junctioned himself!"  
"It was the same with Ifrit. I think we should ask the others and see if anyone else can summon."  
They never made it out the door.

Rikku an Al Bhed girl, one of Yunas' guardians and her cousin, was busy having a panic attack. The group was lost in the Thunder Plains, a land of continuous thunder storms. Rikku was terrified of thunder and lightning, so the trip was taking a lot longer than planned because she kept shutting down and curling into a ball on the ground, and when the time came, refused to leave the inns.

The latter was the current case, the group had been waiting outside for about 10 minutes, and the Al Bhed girl was nowhere to be seen.  
"Tidus, go and find her, we are losing travel time." Auron said in his usual neutral tone. The blond haired man just walked into the inn and knocked on her door. Ten minutes later Tidus walked out alone, looked at the group and shrugged.  
"I can't find her."  
"Well it's not like she would leave here on her own, let's all look." Yuna said in a worried tone.

The group could not find their missing friend and after searching the entire Thunder Plains, and surrounding areas, they were very concerned. Even the normally reserved Auron was showing signs of panic and fear. He knew that people did not like the Al Bhed, and might have tried to kidnap or kill her, but she would have made a noise or fought back; not just have simply vanished.

In a zone unaffected by times newly found chaos, twenty beings were deep in meditation. They were divided into groups of four: all focusing on different time zones and people. Under normal conditions it would be easier to locate people, but because of the chronological pandemonium it was an entirely different matter.

The zone where the twenty beings were deep in meditation was called many things: The Infinite Void, Pandora, Dimensional Junction, Temporal Circle, and most commonly to the beings who dwell there: Epicenter.

"We have found Cloud Strife and Yuffie Kisaragi. Bringing them to Section A: Pods 2 and 3."  
"We have found Squall Leonheart and Selphie Tilmitt. Section A: Pods 4 and 5."  
"We have located Rikku and have taken her to Section A: Pod 6."

The five warriors' regained consciousness a short while later. Cloud was the first to do so, as the simple fact that the last thing he had seen before being put into hibernation was his true love being murdered. It seemed reasonable that he should then awaken in a considerable state of panic.  
"NO! Aeris my love! … Hey, where am I?"  
"Shut up I'm trying to sleep. Stupid paper thin dorm room walls." A sleepy Nunchaku user said.  
"Yawn'….5 more minutes Cloud…Then I will do my sentry duty."  
"WARRIORS! AWAKEN FROM YOUR SLUMBER. YOU ARE NEEDED!" A voice full of royal might intoned.  
Alexander was towering over the five humans, waiting for all of them to fully awaken.  
"WARRIORS, WE HAVE RIPPED YOU OUT OF YOUR TIME ZONES IN ORDER FOR YOU TO SAVE THE MULTIVERSE! NOW PLEASE AWAKEN."  
"Yes I was going to save everyone already!" Cloud yelled impatiently "But you took me away before I could save her!"  
"NO! A THREAT GREATER THAN EVEN SEPHIROTH, SIN AND ULTIMECIA MERGED TOGETHER NOW THREATENS OUR WORLD, AND YOU ARE THE ONES TO VANQUISH IT!"

"Send me back I need to save Aeris!"  
"Cloud, because of our actions, she was saved, please calm down." Shiva the ice goddess said serenely as she approached. She glided up to him and rested her hands on his face. Images of the past were sent into his mind: Aeris was alive and had summoned Holy and stopped Sephiroth.

"Wow where are we?" Rikku now asked in a loud and confused tone.  
"You are in the Epicenter, the domain where we, Summons, GFs or Aeons reside when not being called upon. It is a zone where time is constant, closed, all and none. We have brought you here to be taken to a time where you will be able to save everything." Ifrit said in his growling voice.

"Who is this supreme evil that could be even greater than Ultimecia?"  
"There is no threat greater than or equal to that of Sephiroth, and he is my responsibility, now send me back."  
"You are not listening. There is an even greater threat, and only your combined skills can save everything." The Fire being Ifrit growled.  
"Well hurry up and tell us who it is, I want to get this over and done with as quickly as possible. I need to be with Aeris!"

"In time you will know, for you see, even we do not know its name. We sensed a change in reality, yet it was so small that we ignored it. How foolish we were. You will be sent back in time to be trained by a master of every weapon and technique. He is the father of junction, a lord of Materia and a sovereign of combat. Now we know that this is short notice but, you five will be the team that saves everything. Rikku, Selphie and Yuffie, you all have similar skills yet experience that the others lack: teach each other, learn from each other, your skills will be needed greatly before this is over. Cloud, Squall: you two are the greatest swordsmen that have ever existed, both of you have the potential to fend off whole countries single handed, yet you lack the essential technique and training that only one can teach."

"I have a few questions." Squall stated as he looked at his new companions.  
"Yes they are the ones seen in the ruins of your world: they are the preventers of 'The Great Calamity of the Skies'. As for your other question: you are the only ones who can do this, and we do not know the answer to the last one."  
"How did you…?"  
"You have forgotten: I am still junctioned to you. Now please get ready to meet the master. Rikku you are going 3072 years into your future. Cloud and Yuffie you are going 1954 years into your future. Squall and Selphie you two are going 783 years into your past. Good luck Warriors of Destiny."

There was a sudden white flash, then darkness. The five woke up in what looked to be a barren, semi-desert. The area was littered with small caves, valleys and other geographic anomalies.

"I guess introductions are in order: I'm Rikku, daughter to the leader of the Al Bhed."  
"I'm Selphie Tilmitt of Balamb Garden."  
"Yuffie Kisaragi: a master ninja and thief."  
"Cloud Strife…"  
"Squall Leonheart…"  
The three girls burst into a fit of laughter. The two swordsmen just glared at the giggling trio until they stopped.  
"Wow, I never thought that I could meet someone just as Cloud-like as Cloud."  
"The same goes for Squall's Squall-ness."

Several large daggers were suddenly embedded in the ground millimeters from the parties' feet.  
The party all reacted as they were trained: the SeeDs' used their training to try and locate the attackers while getting ready to counter attack. Cloud used his large sword as a shield to cover himself, Yuffie and Rikku as the two girls prepared several smoke bombs.

The area was soon blocked from view by a variety of different coloured smoke: a special gift from Yuffie.  
"Quick, get over here, I found a cave." Cloud yelled out to his new companions.

The group ran into the cavern and took up defensive positions near the back. The smoke started to flow into the cave, this made the party nervous incase the attackers used the smoke to their advantage. A dark voice rang out from the smoke: it was the type of voice that seems as though it should be in nightmares or cause hearts to freeze in fear.  
"Leave this sacred land at once or be vanquished!"

The sound of metal boots was heard clanking towards the group; another dagger was thrown near them.  
"This is your final warning, thou undead spirits!"  
"Wait wait wait…Is that Vincent?" Yuffie asked the smoke covered area.  
"Yes, now leave this earthly realm; this is no longer your plane of existence."  
"We are not ghosts, we're alive, flesh, blood, breathing, completely living."  
"You vanished hundreds of years ago. You are dead. Mere pale apparitions of what once were my comrades. Show me your real forms, so that I may slaughter you."  
"Vincent, it's really us! Listen to your heart what does it say?"  
"…A monster like me has no heart."

Yuffie dropped her shuriken and slowly walked into the smoke. Crying was heard a few minutes later. The group rushed towards the source of the sound, weapons at the ready.

A red and black clad figure lay on his knees crying his soul out Yuffie was comforting the mass. Vincent Valentine was filled with joy that he had not felt in centuries: two of his human friends were alive again. Cloud, the man he greatly respected, and Yuffie: the girl he deeply admired and cared for.

"How have you been alive all this time? Why did you not try and find us? Who are your companions? What are you doing here?"  
Cloud told him about what had happened and the others introduced themselves.  
"Wait Vincent, why did you attack us with throwing daggers? I thought you were a gunman. And what was with the ghost talk?"  
"The world has been cursed; hundreds of the dead have been coming back to life, terrorizing the planet. Now as for your other question: I was in your time, yet I have had time to change over the years. My gun was soaked in too much innocent blood for me to stand, and so I learned a few new skills."

"What do you mean innocent blood?" Cloud asked in a suspicious tone.  
A dark shadow passed over the golden clawed man's face. "That is a dark story for another time."  
"So you are the weapons master?" Rikku asked, speaking for the first time since introducing herself to him.  
"I would not call myself a master, but we can talk about that tomorrow. Tonight we will rest at Cosmo Canyon."  
"Cosmo Canyon…Oh by Gaia itself, is it still standing?!"  
"Yes, thanks to AVALANCHE hundreds of people visited each month. There are a lot less people now, mainly scholars."  
"What happened to AVALANCHE?"  
"The members that we traveled all retired and settled down in Cosmo Canyon. From there it became a protection service for the planet: a planet protecting mercenary squad with members in every town imaginable. Barret would be very proud of what Marlene achieved through AVALANCHE."

The group talked as they were taken to the great Cosmo Canyon, they all learned about each other, and got to know about the histories of one another's times. Vincent was extremely interested in Squall and Selphie and their era, seeing as he would most likely still be around to see all of it happen.  
"Are we there yet?" Rikku interrupted.  
"No." Vincent said in a cold manner that would freeze most humans' hearts.  
"Well how much longer? I'm tired." The normally energetic Al Bhed asked.

Vincent then shocked his old friends by doing something entirely unexpected: he grabbed the blond haired girl and started carrying her in a piggy-back ride.  
"Well you have changed a lot over the years. Before you would not even smile at us, now you are carrying strangers." Cloud said as the group started to pick up its pace.  
"Change is important, and so is getting to Cosmo Canyon before nightfall. We need to go faster: SeeDs how much faster can you go?"  
"We can easily double our pace. As SeeD we are trained for many missions that require speed in most environments."  
"Good, when I say so run as fast as possible. Cloud, Yuffie the same goes for you, get ready."  
"Why do we need to run?" The Ninja girl asked in a curious tone.  
The wind started to pick up, a faint whisper was heard.  
"Now!" Vincent roared in a ferocious tone.

A second later the party could see hundreds of shadows starting to block their path up ahead. Thousands of semi-transparent masses filled the sky above them and hordes of figures could be heard coming from behind as well.

"Vincent what's going on? I don't remember this many monsters near Cosmo Canyon."  
"I'll explain later, now we run, we must make it to the cave up ahead or we will be in a dangerous position."

The strange masses that blocked their path had stopped moving; they had fully blocked the escape route, and were preparing for battle. Vincent saw this and sighed heavily.  
"We are going to have to fight our way through: Squall, Selphie and Rikku, what are your weapons?"

"Lionheart: a powerful Gunblade."  
"I use Nanchaku."  
"I use a pair of daggers."

"This is good, Squall and Cloud protect our flanks; Selphie help Squall, Rikku help Cloud. Yuffie take point. I'll take the air forces."  
They did as they were told, as Vincent dropped behind them by a few steps. The red and black clad fighter drew two strangely shaped chains and leapt into the air.

Yuffie threw her Shuriken at the closest group of enemies, slicing them in half with ease. Cloud and Rikku were working well together, Cloud would strike at the opponents who were further away, and Rikku would get the ones that came on close. Squall and Selphie had come up with a plan for a situation just like this, and were executing it perfectly. Squall would attack the enemies in front and on the left side of the two, Selphie would get those on the right and behind.

Vincent wrapped a chain around one of the flying monsters' legs, he then used it to pull himself up higher, the then repeated this with the other chain, and again and again. Once he was atop the winged monsters he let loose with a powerful barrage of magic spells: Ultima, Flare, Tornado and some of his own created spells tore through the adversaries' ranks. He charged a lightning spell in his claw and slashed in a wide arc: the lightning trailed and was sent flying in the path of the claw. There were still hundreds more for each that he killed and the same was for the ground forces.

Cloud released his Limit, Meteorain, but the enemies seemed to grow in numbers. Squall used his Blasting Zone and Selphie used Rapture, the attackers did not slow.  
Vincent came flying down and took out a monster that was about to attack Yuffie from behind. Vincent told the others to try and make it to the cave and that he would hold the monsters off.

"Vincent you can't hold all of them off by yourself, it will be suicide."  
"Cloud, listen to me, get the others to Cosmo Canyon!"  
Cloud then saw Vincent starting to transform, he knew that Vincent would no longer listen, so he took point and the rest of the party followed.

The most evil and powerful demon alive was sealed inside the body of an immortal. This demon would never be free, and was forced to serve when called upon. Vincent was changing into Chaos, king of demons.

The party had reached the cave, Cloud and Yuffie recognized it instantly, it was the Cave of Gi. They were close to Cosmo Canyon. Looking up They could see Red XIIs father, who had been turned to stone, still guarding the land. The path leading to where Vincent was fighting collapsed, sealing him off from Cosmo Canyon, and any chance of help.  
"Vincent! NO! We need to help him!"  
"We can't, we need to reach Cosmo Canyon, it was his dying wish that we make it."  
"Cloud, why are you so cold? Why don't you care about your teammates?"  
"He is the only one who can survive the fight; he closed the cave entrance so that none would follow us. Now let's honor his wish and keep moving."

"If it was Aeris you wouldn't be walking away!" Yuffie yelled in anger.  
"You are right, but that's only because she could not fight, let alone battle an entire army. Vincent has been trained by the Turks and he was been training for thousands of years, none of us could even hope to match his skill… And he was busy transforming, if we were to help he would attack us as well."  
"What is Vincent?" Rikku asked.  
"I'll explain later, but for now we climb." Cloud said as he started to walk.

Yuffie was sulking most of the way, Cloud was just being himself, while the other three were afraid to speak in case they got yelled at due to the tense situation. Finally Cloud spoke again. "We are almost there, just up this ladder."  
"How can you see anything, let alone a ladder?"

As he put his hand on the first rung of the ladder a deafening roar was heard, a split second later Cloud was on his chest with a large jaw around his neck. A second later Squall and Rikku were knocked to the ground and had large claws resting painfully close to their jugular veins.

A loud commanding voice shouted from up above. "Let them come up, they are friends." Cloud and Yuffie recognized the voice, but something was slightly different about it. The group climbed to the top cautiously, their attackers had quickly retreated back into their hiding places before anyone could get a good look at them: the lack of light did not help much either.

Once everyone had climbed out of the cavern and their eyes had adjusted to the light they saw the origin of the voice. Red XIII was lying on the ground a hundred meters away from the maw of the cave. Even from this distance you could see that he had aged: his fur which was once a dark, deep red now had grey patches. He then got up and started to walk towards the group. He had a lot more scars than the last time his two friends had seen him, some looked fresh. His flame tipped tail still burned ferociously. His one eye still shone with joy, yet sadness, hardship and wisdom could be seen as well.  
"The planet told me that I would see the two of you again before my time was up. I'm glad that it was at this time, we have need of heroes again. Now I'm sure that you need to rest, follow me…Cloud where is Vincent?"  
"We were attacked by strange creatures; he stayed behind to make sure that we could get here safely."  
"I understand: Seto, Bugenhagen, take our guests to the inn."

Two large feline creatures leapt from the cavern and landed before Red, they bowed and one told the new comers to follow him. The other stayed and spoke. "Elder, where are you going? You can't fight them alone. Let us come with you."  
"No, you have yet to complete your training; I will help my dear friend. You must stay and guard the village from other attacks."  
"Very well Elder. May Gaia guide you to victory."  
"Red, if you are going to save Vincent we need to come as well. He is our friend as well!" Yuffie yelled in the most serious tone she had ever made. "I am not leaving him behind twice in the same day!"  
"Very well Princess of Wutai. I have missed you greatly, you as well Cloud. Yuffie, when this is over you need to go to Da-Chao."  
"Why?"  
"Let's just say that it was a gift from your father. Now let's get going, we need to hurry."  
"You can't ignore us, we're coming a well."  
"You have no connection to us, yet you are willing to lay your life on the line to save our friend. You have a very noble hearts. Gaia chose wisely."

They ran into the cave, and down the path.  
"Red, take no offense by this, but how do you have children, I thought you were the last of your kind."  
"I also thought that, but I found Deneh, my old friend. I thought that the Turks had killed her long ago, but she was in the alter cavern. One thing led to another, and now I have several grandchildren as well."  
The group was now halfway through the cave; they picked up the speed, reaching the collapsed section fifteen minutes later. Red used an earth spell and the debris was crushed into smaller pieces. They ran on and saw great devastation.

Thousands of bodies lay on the ground, hundreds still moved towards a center point a few hundred meters away from the caves entrance. They could not see the golden clawed former gunman, but they could hear demonic roars coming from the vicinity of the mass of monsters.  
"That roar, Vincent must be in trouble if he is using Chaos." Red said as he rushed into the masses of opponents.  
"Wow, Vincent did all of this, what kind of human could do this?" Rikku asked as she took down a Bomb.  
"Vincent is not really human, ask him to explain it." Red then let out a fearsome roar.  
The roar caused the monsters to stop and turn to face Red, they then began to change.  
The monsters started to become Gi warriors. A sight which terrified the former members of AVALANCHE: the Gi used poisonous weapons that turned the victims to stone; Reds' father had given his life to protect the Canyon from them two millennia ago. His body was a stone guardian, still protecting the Canyon even now.  
"The Gi are still undead, I thought the land had been cleared of them." Cloud asked as he remembered the fighting that had happened the first time they came through the caves.  
"We need to be careful; their weapons turn you to stone."

A huge shadow flew overhead, the form of Chaos landed next to Red. Vincent had several poisoned spears impaled in his chest, his unnatural body kept the poison at bay.  
"It seems as if it's now your turn to protect the Canyon from the Gi, let's give it our all."  
"We need to kill each and everyone; my father gave his life to make use that no Gi will ever touch Cosmo Canyon soil again. I will not let his sacrifice be in vain!"

The group charged at the undead masses, all giving it their all to prevent a single one from escaping. Using all of his demonic powers and centuries of training to destroy wave after wave of enemy hordes, Vincent was still not fatigued after almost a whole afternoon of fighting.

The intense battle raged on between seven warriors of good, and a seemingly endless army of undead Gi warriors. The SeeDs were using all their abilities and swapping their Junctioned Magic around to change for each situation. Squall released a Blasting Zone and a Fated Circle to remove large masses of Gi. Selphie used a Full Cure followed by Rapture and several Ultima .Yuffie used her ninja skills to use Phoenix Downs on enemies and attacking a different one with her magic and another one with her Shuriken. Rikku was using items from different times to make massive revival status bombs that wiped out huge amounts of enemies, as well as her daggers to kill the ones it missed. Red had cast haste on himself, and was clawing and biting every Gi that he could reach, casting devastating spells on other ones.

Cloud had decided to use a trick he had learned from Sephiroth: he ran and jumped onto a high ledge, jumped down and impaled an enemy. He then released Blade Beam which was super powered due to the added momentum. The blast spread out and killed about 40 more of the undead Gi.  
Vincent had reached his limit of safely controlling the Chaos power; he landed just outside the battle and changed back to his demi-human form. He pulls out Cerberus and attaches a blade to the front of it. He then rushes into the fray slaughtering several enemies in seconds; shots were fired as the blade sliced those close enough to it. Vincent started to head towards the current location of Cloud. Once he had reached Cloud he pulled out a very large sword and threw it towards Cloud.  
"It's called the First Tsurugi, use it well." And with that Vincent ran off into the hordes of Gi. Cloud instantly felt the power difference between the two weapons and discarded his Apocalypse in favor of the new blade. The blonde haired swordsman felt stronger than he had felt before and was soon using the new weapon as if he had it his whole life.

Vincent saw that Rikku was starting to get overwhelmed and rushed to her aid. When he arrived he noticed her plan and quickly retreated. Suddenly there was a huge chasm opening up where Vincent was standing. He jumped to the left and landed on solid ground; looking back he could not see the bomb expert. He quickly reacted and leapt down the chasm and looked for any trace of the Al Bhed girl. Half way down the gorge, holding on for dear life was the girl, having barely survived the fall by grabbing onto a small ledge.

Vincent landed perfectly on the tiny protuberance and picked the girl onto his back. He then started to climb back up to the top of the ravine by using his claw and metal boots. Once at the top he placed the injured girl a safe distance away from the battle. Rikku was about to thank the red and black clad warrior, but in the blink of an eye he had vanished back into the battle.

He ran to Squall and handed him Cerberus with the blade attachment. "This may prove to be a better weapon, no offense."  
"None taken, I can feel a huge difference in power. What is this?"  
"I believe it may the first version of what you call a 'Gunblade', I call it The Phantom."  
"Why?"  
Vincent took it back, fiddled with the blade and gave it back to the SeeD.  
"Try slicing through one of them now."  
The blade cleaved the in two with the greatest ease. The blade had also carved a trail in enemies near the target and the ground under it as well.  
"It has a very special property, it will spread its force in an area after it has hit the intended target."  
"Who have you managed that?"  
"I'll explain later." With that the immortal ran into the masses again.

Vincent had reached Yuffie and clawed a Gi that was attacking the ninja from above. She returned the favor by killing one that impaled Vincent on its spear. He could see panic and fear in her eyes.  
"I'm fine: the poison has no effect on my mutated body. Here take this; it was Tifas' favourite."  
"I can't take this."  
"It has her mastered Materia in it."  
"Why didn't you say that first?"  
"I have missed your unique charm. The gloves will also improve your grip."  
"Now is not really the best time to catch up on the past-Jump!"

The two preformed a dance of death, both protecting the others blind spots, twirling, spinning and jumping to get the best angle of attack. The enemies' numbers kept increasing, they needed a miracle. Knives, shrunken and magic were not enough. Vincent needed to use his guns in order to keep the masses away; his numerous weapons lay scattered around the battlefield. He removed Griffon from his cloak and let off a few rounds in the face of a GI warlord. He felt a lot stronger with a gun in his hands, a lot more confident. He felt a freedom and joy that he had not felt in almost a thousand years.

Yet for everyone that was killed it seemed that several more took its place. They needed a lucky break.  
"The End!" Selphie was able to call forth a colossal power: teleporting each and every living Gi to another world. The battlefield was desolate and bloody. The warriors from different times had all only received minor injuries and Vincents' altered body regenerated any damage he might have received. Red on the other hand did not fare so well.

Several of the Gi spears and arrows had pierced his flesh; the poison had entered his bloodstream. He knew that his time was up, yet he still had one more duty to do…

"Red, you're hurt, stay still!"  
"No, let me do this."  
He slowly walked back into the cave and looked up at his father, a true hero. Red started his ascend to the plateau were Seto stood frozen in stone. By the time Red made it to the top his tail was almost completely stone. He looked at his father, and said: "Thank you father, for giving the strength and courage to face everything that has come at me. Thank you for the strength you gave me to be able to protect the Canyon."

He saw a single tear fall from his fathers' stone body. The poison was starting to accelerate; he stood next to his father, faced the caves entrance and let out one final roar. With that there were two eternal guardians protecting Cosmo Canyon.

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WHO WAS IN THE NUMBER ONE POD...?

Thank you for reading, please review: give me ideas, suggestions, flames, anything...


	2. Chapter 2

Finally got around to finishing this chapter.  
This chapter may contain spoilers if you have never played FF7 or 8... which would be weird because you are reading a story based mainly on those 2 games...  
Some of you reading this may notice all the links I am making, I have started mapping out the land, people and lore.

Thanks to Nataku's Wrath for the advice.

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Chapter 2: Explanation.

The warriors stood silent around the two stone guardians. The silence was finally broken by Vincent, "We must tell the villagers what happened."  
"Vincent, please tell me what happened with Aeris. The last time I saw her she was about to be killed by Sephiroth."

Vincent smiled and started to walk off towards the entrance to Cosmo Canyon, along the way he picked up all his weapons and searched a few of the corpses for Gil.  
"Vincent, answer me!" Cloud yelled, tears starting to form in his eyes.

"Are your eyes so clouded over from despair of losing her that you cannot see the obvious?"  
"Enough with everyone's riddles, I'm just a normal human. Why does everyone expect so much from me!"  
"CLOUD! WAKE UP! You are so much more than just a normal human, you are a Mako infused, Sephiroth clone."  
"WHAT! That's impossible, I'm Cloud Strife I was born in Nibelheim. How can I be a clone of a heartless monster?"

Vincent let out a sighing growl that was more than just from his mouth; it was heard by everyone, not by their ears but their souls. Cloud instantly calmed down and waited for Vincent to answer the series of questions he had asked.

"What was Sephiroths' goal?"  
"To become summon Meteor."  
"Correct. Now to answer your question about Aeris: where are we?"  
"Cosmo Canyon. But I don't see how that… He didn't summon Meteor, we won, she lived… You could have just said that to begin with."  
"True but this was more fun. Now, for your next question, you are not a normal human. I can prove it to you; just give me a few seconds."

Vincent pulled a book out of his cape. The book was a complete collection of Hojos' research. Cloud read every page and was silent as the party walked to the rope ladder that leads to the village. He finished reading and fell to the floor; all his memories had really been those of his friend, Zack Fair, he was an experiment, he was not himself. His mind was on the brink of shattering.

"Sephiroth read the same book, he lost it and became the 'heartless monster' you fought and hate. Do not give into the hate Cloud. You are stronger, think of Aeris." Vincent said to the crying, breaking shell of the man he respected. After a few minutes he calmed down and calmly rose to his feet.  
"I am not the same as him, I am not him. I am Cloud Strife!"  
"Good Cloud, now if you don't mind, please climb the ladder now."  
"Vincent, I need to know everything that happened from the moment Yuffie and I left."

While the two were having their conversation, the other four party members were already in the Shildra Inn, getting to know one another. Well at least the girls were, Squall was more focused on learning about the land from the Elder, and he wouldn't have been able to get a word in with the ferocious speed at which the three girls were talking.

Squall was able to learn the layout of the land and put two and two together, he figured out that this area would become known as Galbadia, more specifically the area of Vaulny Canyon. His mind wandered, thinking of what will cause the land to change so much in such a short time period. He remembered the friendly shadow at Obel Lake and the strange quest he had to do. He was pulled back to reality when a golden claw rested on his shoulder.  
"Squall I need to ask you something that may seem strange. In your time period, is there a location with a large crystalline formation. It may be submerged underwater."  
"There was something like that inside a device called the Lunatic Pandora. The crystal pillar was rumored to have come from the Centra continent."  
"Thank you Squall, please go to the Candle and wait for the others." Vincents' thoughts once again wondered to his love, Lucrecia Crescent.

The party had all gathered around the Candle, the three girls all still deep in conversation, while the two guys were cleaning their weapons. The Candles' glow off the blades was hypnotizing, the two swordsmen failed to notice the red cloaked warrior appear. His voice brought them out of their trance.  
"You must all be wondering what has happened here, with everyone in constant fear of attack. Well there is a man by the name of Hyne; well he can no longer be called a man. He was a scientist who was helping me to find a cure for my 'Inner Demons', and well you could say that he changed his mind halfway through."  
Squall raised his hand and said, "Hyne, in our time there is a legend of a being called Hyne, he creates the first sorceress."

"They are most likely the same person. He decided to copy and alter my DNA, he created a being from that. The boy that was created, given the experiment name of Vivi, could not survive, and yet could not die. It became a type of undead with magical properties. It has almost complete control over the dead, and one's mind. It can read your fears and make them real. That is the reason why I attacked you when you first arrived. Vivi can even destroy Summons and Weapons."

"So this is the great evil we have been sent here to defeat. How do you kill something that can't be killed?" Rikku asked as she stole some Gil from Selphie.  
"That will be discovered in time. For now I need to talk to all of you in private. Starting with you Rikku, and please don't steal from each other."

Vincent talked to Rikku and learned about her time, he also gave her some pointers for pick pocketing. Vincent then spoke to Selphie and asked if he could modify her weapon, she agreed and went to bed, in her mind she was hoping to see Laguna in her dreams again.

"I'm glad you are more social now. There is something I have always wanted to ask you." Yuffie said as she hugged Vincent, her heart was filled with joy as he returned the hug.  
"Well are you going to ask or just smell me all night?" the young ninja blushed and let go of him.  
"I wanted to know if you could make me a vampire as well."  
Vincent let out a cheerful laugh, gave a true smile and said he was not a vampire. "I have not been called a vampire in such a long time. I have missed you so much, 'princess'."  
"I told you not to call me that." The ninja sulked and then gave an evil yet friendly grin.  
"So blood sucker what do you want to talk about?"  
"It has been ages since I last talked to you, I just want to talk about anything."  
"Well I already found out what happened to Sephiroth, so what happened to my town?"  
"That I cannot tell you, we will go there soon though. What are you hiding?"  
"Nothing much, I'm just imagining you in a fun situation." The young girl grinned.  
"You are still trying to make me blush, it will never work, Princess."

The two talked for another hour, Yuffie finally fell asleep and Vincent carried her to the Inn.  
He decided to talk to the two swordsmen together. The three men discussed battle plans and what to do next.  
The discussion took a turn when Cloud brought up what the former gunman had said about his guns spilling innocent blood. Vincent told them the tale.

"I had been trying to find a place to settle in after the defeat of Sephiroth, I tried the Forgotten Capital, but it did not feel like home. I was going to try the Slums but with the plate being removed, the Slums were no more. So I decided I would become a body guard for hire. That is all I can tell you for now. I am sorry. Please go and rest, we will be leaving early in the morning."

The two swordsmen retired to their rooms, and Vincent was alone. He decided to walk down to the coast. With his body always being at its peck and the demonic beings inside him, he could do many things that most mortals could not even imagine. He was near the beach and started to rise into the air, he flew until the sea was below him, and he plummeted into the cold water. He swam as deep as he could, the demons keeping his body from being crushed by the pressure of the water. When he reached the sea floor, he pulled out a large set of weights from the void in his cape.  
The strain on his demons increased when he started to train. He would drain the demons almost completely while strengthening his own immortal body. He changed into the first demon, Galian Beast. Ever since the incident with Professor Hyne, Vincent had gained a lot more control over the demons. He could make his body do so much more than during the time of Hojo. He trained as each demon until they were all weakened and less restless.

He made his way back to the shore, the demons almost completely exhausted. A silhouette caught his eye and he headed towards it.  
"You should sleep, we have a big day ahead of us."  
"Ninja don't sleep; we are always alert and ready." With that the young girl got hit by a wave and fell into the water. Vincent laughed and picked her up, and carried her to the shore.  
"I saw you flying, you are a vampire." She smiled childishly at him, he grinned back. "So you found out my secret. I guess I can feed on you now." He opened his mouth and started to move his head towards her neck. She screamed, struggled and fell out of his arms, back into the water. Vincent laughed again and said that's what happens to people who call others names. Yuffie laughed as well, as she tripped the demon vessel. He fell into the water, within seconds they were behaving like small children.

They stopped when Yuffie was suffering from the cold water. Their wet clothes weighed them down as they made their way back to the shore. Vincents' clothes dried in seconds, every single thread was filled with demonic energy. Yuffie on the other hand was freezing in the night air. She turned to her friend and said, "I'm going to take off my clothes so they can dry better, you can peek if you want." With that the ninja finally got what she wanted. The normally pale skinned Vincent was blushing.  
"Have you been waiting all night to see that happen?" He asked as he regained composure.  
"Yes, and it was worth it. It may have taken me almost 2000 years but I did it."

The sun started to rise by the time that the two made it back to Cosmo Canyon. The other members of their group had finished eating breakfast and had gotten all the supplies they would need. Once everyone was ready and the destination decided, they said their good-byes so the villagers of Cosmo Canyon. The group was going to go to Wutai, over the decades it had become the weapon market of the world.  
As the group left Vincent asked who would be the squad leader, everyone's eyes went from Cloud to Squall and back for a few seconds. Neither of the swordsmen really cared but then Vincent hit a nerve. "The stronger swordsman can be leader." Both Cloud and Squall secretly took immense pride in their blade skill and refused to be called second best.

The two drew their new blades. Cloud with First Tsurugi, a large blade made up of a series of smaller blades, each blade was still bigger than clouds own body. The blade seemed to be alive in Clouds hands.  
Squall had his new blade, the Phantom. A silver Gunblade, the blade was semi transparent and had Vincents' Cerberus as the gun. It was the finest Gunblade that ever existed.  
The two finest swordsmen of all time, both wielding the finest blades of all time were about to duel…

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Thanks to all who have read it, please review. any feed back is welcome.


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